Quick quiz for you:
Which of these do Millenials find most important?
- Teamwork
- Independence
- Paid Time Off
- Communication
- Compensation
If you said “communication,” you’re wrong. And you’re probably a member of Generation X.
The correct answer, according to the most recent research, is paid time off.
“They want to have a life,” says Marsha Davis, the director of training and programing for the diversity, leadership and human resources consultancy The Davis Group, and the keynote speaker at the 17th Annual Wipfli National Training Conference, which gets underway Tuesday.
This is just one of about thirty questions Davis often presents to clients when she begins helping them confront diversity issues. The questions help people understand their own motivations and attitudes, and how those differ from other people’s.
Davis notes that Gen X-ers, now mostly in their 40s, put communication at the top of their list, and expect their younger colleagues to share the same values. It’s important to know, though, that what’s most important to you isn’t necessarily most important for everyone.
“You apply your own values onto other people,” Davis says. “The more you know about you, the more you can know about others.”
Davis says diversity in the workplace isn’t just about race, or even gender. Physical appearance, age, gender identity, even military experience can change the way people think and approach their work.
“It’s not just those attributes protected by law,” Davis says. “We take it to a broader level and talk about cultural intersections.”
And she takes a pretty broad view of “culture,” too. Besides the culture we live in, each workplace — even each department within a workplace — has its own culture, Davis says.
At the Wipfli conference, in front of an audience of more than 400 nonprofit leaders from around the country, Davis won’t be able to break out all 30 questions in what she calls her Diversiquiz. She’ll offer a sampling, though, and help the Wipfli clients in attendance understand the importance of understanding themselves so they can understand others.
“We operate under a performance management system that expects everyone to be the same,” Davis says. “That doesn’t work anymore.
Davis’s address will kick off the 17th annual Wipfli National Training Conference, hosted by Wipfli’s Nonprofit and Government Practice. Wipfli, a Madison-based CPA and consulting firm, hosts the conference to help nonprofit leaders from around the country secure the most funding, diversify funding sources, tell their stories, and comply with government regulations in order to ensure future funding.
Madison365 will be at the conference to interview attendees and share what they’re learning. Watch madison365.org and our Facebook page for more!
